About 20 years ago, I took over what amounted to building superintendent duties on a 3 story residential structure. Original part was about 100 years old and was heated by live steam. About 50 years prior, an addition was put on and it was heated by hot water radiant heat.........using live steam thru a heat exchanger to heat the water. The commercial furnace guy met me one day to go over the entire system. How it was designed......how it worked. My first impression was it was only slightly more complicated than a nuclear submarine.......but over time, came to realize the brilliance of the system. A mechanical marvel designed and built 50 to 100 years ago by some truly genius minds. Heating guy referred to them as "the ancients".
Fast forward 10 years, in sections where the hot water radiant heat system pipes passed thru......the two upper floors.......got gutted and remodeled one summer. We get into late fall and the heat comes on........yet no heat on the two upper floors. Talked to commercial contractor what did the remodel work and they assured me it was working. Went back to the commercial heating expert and we talk thru it. Long story short, after I (just me) spent two days messing with it concluded that during the remodel, they had cut and capped the circulation pipes. No more loop......only two dead ends. It took me and the commercial heating guy almost two hours to convince the general contractor, his plumbing sub contractor and two architects they had screwed the pooch. Their understanding........and even ability to understand it......was abysmal. It took them nearly 2 weeks and tens of thousands of $ to come back to rip out the finish so they could fix it. Somebody's E & O took a big hit.
My takeaway was if these systems are designed and installed right, they both simple and highly effective way to heat some space. If not, they can be a nightmare to deal with.
My other takeaway was even 20 year ago, the commercial boiler guy was charging about $100 per hour.......probably closer to $150 per hour or more today. If I was a young guy who had a mind for mechanical systems, there is a wide open career path for you. Buildings with these systems in place swill exist and there is a need for experts who understand how to keep them running. A forced air HVAC system is one thing. Commercial rated live steam boilers are something else entirely. Along the lines of brain surgery isn't hard if you know how. Those that know how can make a lot of money.
Last edited by HayDay; 01/18/24 01:12 PM.